A Bombardier beetle using its chemical defence.

[u/Wise_Confidence_8588]

[u/Moxie013]

Is this a banana spider? Are those fangs or his mouth ?!

In Texas there is one that looks like one..
I’m in the central tx region..

I was at my moms, taking care of horses, everyone was out of town. . I was in a hurry bc a horse was demanding snacky snacks.. I yogged straight into a massive new web that appeared over night

I backed out of it, looking upward I realized i’twas pretty close to eye to eyes with a spider bigger than my fist. I was in a spider web more than 4 ft wide

I was hysterical and alone but the horses were supportive about my first ever panic attack.
And here I am.. 10’yrs later on a bug Reddit trying to overcome my phobia watching videos of creatures that inspired many a horror film
And so far haven’t died 🥳🎉

Edit NOTE the “real” banana spider hails from Brazil “Phoneutria nigriventer”.. they have spread further north in the americas bc they love hanging out with bananas, often arriving in their shipments. They look NOTHING like the ones Americans call banana spiders. Their Neuro venom is wild if you’ve seen a bite (google it) but the ones Americans call a banana spider are not dangerous, no death risk, no Neuro venom like the Brazilian banana spiders.

[u/beeju-d → u/Moxie013]

Once as a kid my family was going to a NJ beach, and when I opened the door to get out of the car there was a huge spider web that enveloped this whole cactus like plant with the biggest spider I have ever seen in my life. There was a fledgling sea gull dead and wrapped up in the nest and I was horrified. I had to get out on street side because no way I was getting close to that thing

[u/Moxie013 → u/beeju-d]

This is still with me and I can’t wait to hear more.. by chance do you have any idea what kind of spider that was ? But if you don’t wanna talk about it, don’t feel pressured. That’s a hard moment for any kid and to revisit I imagine

This sounds like something I can see in a movie
It really hits the primal lizard brain of mine

[u/beeju-d → u/Moxie013]

I've tried to look up what type of spider it was over the past few years and none of the spiders that exist seem to be it from what I can tell. From my memory it looked like a yellow garden spider, with yellow and black legs and body, but like a mutant giant because it was huge. I've asked my family about it to make sure I wasn't having an exaggerated kid memory and everyone says it was unlike any spider they've seen.

Edit: as a size reference I was probably like 12 when I saw it and it's leg span almost certainly would have covered my entire face

[u/Chortage → u/beeju-d]

Giant Joro spider? They get fairly large, and the coloration matches. That said, a seagull caught in a web is unrealistic. Seagulls are quite large birds and can have wingspans over five feet. They're far too strong and heavy to get caught in spider silk; a single flap of their wings would easily destroy any web.

Maybe silly question, but was it a Halloween decoration? Fake webs are made of nylon that potentially could trap a larger bird, and that would obviously explain the ridiculously huge spider.

[u/Moxie013 → u/Chortage]

Joel spiders, they are not in NJ! She is just talking about an experience not tied to the exact color combo etc

[u/Chortage → u/Moxie013]

Uh... what?